Three Witnesses Take Stand in Libous Trial

Three witnesses took the stand in the Tom Libous trial in federal court in White Plains.

The senator is accused of providing false statements to FBI which was investigating his role in getting his son Matthew a job in a Westchester County firm.

The prosecution and defense rest their cases Monday at the senator Libous trial. Monday morning the defense continued their Cross examination of FBI investigator Robert Silveri. He testified that he did not use documentation to interview the senator in his Albany office on June 24 2010.

Silveri said last Thursday the interview was not recorded because the senator was not convicted or taken into custody. The defense then showed evidence to place in front of the jury to show that the department of justice actually encourages the recordings of interviews.

Silveri responded that he was only doing what he had been taught in his training.

On re-direct,Silveri testified he thought Libous gave clear answers to the questions but the information in those statements were questionable.

"Then we found out, there was a lot of ambiguity in terms of what was said and what was meant.And in a case where you are on trial for your life for what you said, it's important to know exactly what was said.That wasn't done, there was no recording, no transcripts and they didn't even ask Tom Libous to give a signed statement," said defense attorney Paul DerOhannesian.

Then the prosecution called their final witness, expert of records, Shawn smith. He displayed a timeline of interaction with phone, credit card, and EZ pass records of the senator, his son, the lobbying firm, and Mangone from September 2005 to January 2006. "I think there were many mistakes in terms of not only what was said but the documentation and recording of what was said," said DerOhannesian. The prosecution rested their case at 3:17 pm.The defense made their case next and read 2 stipulations to the jury and called U.S. District Judge and Kirkwood native, Tom McAvoy to the stand.

When asked to testify about the senators reputation in the community, he said "he is a hardworking, honest gentleman, and does a lot of good for the community."

"There are many issues that the jury has to decide.Not just what was said, what was asked, but again, were statements made knowingly and willfully.Was there a specific intent to violate the law here and it's our position that none of those things can be established, there are so many reasonable doubts in this case," said DerOhannesian.

The defense rested their case at 4:09 p.m and closing arguments begin Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.